Norwood School Committee cuts 10 positions

Thursday

Apr 3, 2014 at 9:00 AM

By Brad Colebcole@wickedlocal.com

The Norwood School Committee eliminated nine teachers and a middle school administer in order to balance its fiscal 2015 budget of $38.4 million."We are dangerously close to decimating our school system with that amount we are going to have to cut," School Committee chairman Courtney Rau said. "The schools need some help."Superintendent James Hayden met with General Manager John Carroll and town accountant Bob Thornton to look for funds to reduce the amount the School Committee needed to cut. Per Thornton’s recommendation, the committee increased its fiscal 2015 Circuit Breaker reimbursement estimate, a state fund that reimburses out-of-district special education costs, by $300,000.Additionally, the town’s department receipts, including the excise task and ambulance fees, were $205,000 more than anticipated. Hayden said the town is discussing giving this entire amount to the schools, rather than splitting it between the school and general government departments at a 55/45 percent ratio."There is still going to be some pain, but it’s not as bad as where we once stood," Hayden said.The pain took the form of 10 positions in the Norwood Public Schools.Four elementary school teachers, representing a budget reduction of just less than $195,000, were cut at the School Committee’s March 27 meeting. These cuts will lead to increased classes sizes at the Balch, Cleveland and Oldham schools.Three positions were cut at the Coakley Middle School. The administration system there will change. Instead of having three housemasters, the school will have two vice principals."I think this structure can work," Rau said. "It’s not a pure middle school model, but I know middle schools that operate with a principal and two vice principals. It can work."The committee also eliminated an MCAS math teacher and a sixth grade foreign language teacher. Hayden said, despite this cut, the school should still be able to offer sixth grade foreign language classes. These cuts represent more than $177,000 in reductions."What I didn’t have to do was eliminate a whole team," Hayden said. An earlier version of the budget proposed cutting four teachers- eliminating a Coakley Middle School team- leading to increased class sizes in English, social studies, science and math.Three positions were also cut at Norwood High. A part time English teacher, as well as a foreign language teacher and social studies teacher, were cut to reduce the budget by approximately $136,000. This will lead to increased classes sizes in those subjects, and Norwood High will not be able to move forward with a two-year foreign language requirement at this time.Not cut were the visual arts teacher, television production teacher and TV Manager.Due to lower-than-anticipated enrollments, the system will not have to hire a new kindergarten teacher, a new practical learning center teacher or a new inclusion teacher, Hayden said, freeing up approximately $130,000 in funds."This brings us to a balanced budget, but we still have some problems in our budget. One, clearly, is busing," Superintendent James Hayden said, as busing for students in seventh to 12th grade was cut at a prior meeting.School Committee member Paul Samargedlis said that while cutting busing got the community’s attention, he would rather add it back into the budget and cut the $250,000 elsewhere. He suggested cutting stipends, but other committee members noted that would require impact bargaining with the union.Hayden said the town has identified $255,000 in funds, but the school department’s ability to use that to restore busing depends on how they finish fiscal 2014. Due to an increase in out-of-district special education placements, the school department budget is currently $313,000 in the red. If they finish the year in the red, those funds will be used to cover those expenses. If the schools can finish the fiscal year in the black, that $255,000 could potentially be used to restore busing."We’ve made some tough decisions," Hayden said. "We have a budget that is balanced."Staff writer Brad Cole can be reached at 781-433-8339 or bcole@wickedlocal.com. Like The Norwood Transcript and Bulletin on Facebook and follow @bradcolewrites and @NorwoodTranscri on Twitter.